


The best laid plans

by savagerhapsody



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-08
Updated: 2015-06-08
Packaged: 2018-04-03 13:15:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4102339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/savagerhapsody/pseuds/savagerhapsody
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A recon mission to stalk Carmilla goes awry. Hollstein.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The best laid plans

“OK guys, I really don't mind being used as a vampire snack-cake, but I think there's part of this plan that's got a weakness.” said Laura.  
All four of them had stayed up until the wee hours of the night, fleshing out the details of using Laura to capture Carmilla. Pizza boxes and empty soda bottles laid carelessly scattered on the floor (much to Perry's dismay). Diagrams and sketches had been drawn and edited, then re-drawn again.  
“And that would be...? asked LaFontaine.  
“I think Carmilla's got a weakness that we're not taking advantage of. To this day, I still don't have the foggiest as to where, exactly, she goes at night. She might have a flaw that we're not aware of, simply because I have no idea what the heck she's up to!”  
Laura looked around at her friend's faces and could see they knew she was right.  
“Then your suggestion is...” said LaFontaine.  
“Laura, no.”  
Danny, who had been mostly silent laying in Laura's bed during the last few hours, sat up.  
“I don't even agree with using you as vampire bait, and now...what? We traipse around at night stalking your dangerous potentially-superhuman roommate? I can't deal with this anymore Laura, I can't...” she said.  
Sensing Danny's grief, she got up off the floor and moved to touch her shoulder.  
“Danny...I know this is hard. Believe me, I'm just as scared for you and the Zetas as I am for myself. The truth is, we have no idea how powerful Carmilla is, or what she's capable of when she's cornered. The more we do our homework, the better off we'll be.” said Laura.  
The corner of Danny's mouth turned up into a smile.  
“I want everyone to be as safe as they possibly can be. I think this is the best way. Can you trust me?”  
Danny made the mistake of looking up into Laura's eyes. Suddenly, her resolve crumbled like stale bread.  
“Fine...fine.”

 

The next week had been a continuation of planning, preparation, and pizza (and also sometimes popcorn). A date had been set for the following night, and once again they found themselves huddled on Laura's floor, refining the finishing details of Operation Stake (Out) Carmilla. The name was Danny's suggestion and she refused to accept any alternatives.  
“So Laura will be our girl on the ground, and will be responsible for following Carmilla wherever she goes.” said LaFontaine.  
“Can someone again please tell me why it has to be Laura?” Danny asked, leaning on Laura's bed, crossing her arms.  
“Because Danny, we have already established that out of the four of us, Laura will surely be the safest in the event that we are discovered by Carmilla.” Perry said.  
“Yeah, what with the seduction eyes and all.” LaFontaine added.  
Perry gently elbowed LaFontaine in the ribs and Danny's scowl darkened.  
“Anyway, Perry, Danny, and I will be stationed at well-concealed strategic points across campus,” LaFontaine pointed to an open map on the floor, “Here, here, and here. We'll communicate via walkie-talkie. Does everyone have their walkie-talkies?”  
Perry held hers up begrudgingly.   
“LaFontaine are these really necessary? This is the 21st century, we have cell-phones.”  
“Of course they're not necessary. But Laura and I agree that they're badass and totally awesome and so they're staying.” she said.  
“Carmilla usually disappears around 10 at night after she gets back from her History of Philosophy class. Once she leaves, I'll start following her on foot.” Laura said.  
“We'll be in position.” said LaFontaine.  
Everyone nodded in agreement. Perry and LaFontaine gathered their things, and wished Laura good-night and godspeed. Danny picked her backpack up off the floor and rose to leave, but stopped when she got to the doorway.  
“Laura...”  
Laura's heart melted looking at Danny's puppy-dog face of concern. Before she could say anything, Danny reached into her pocket and revealed a thin silver bracelet. A small charm of the Summer Society's emblem dangled from it.   
“Just....take this with you. It will keep you safe, and I'll feel much better. Please.”  
Danny tenderly grabbed Laura's wrist and fastened the bracelet. Danny's warm skin made her shiver.  
“I swear I won't let anything happen to you. Just please just be careful.”  
“I promise, Danny.”  
As Danny turned to leave, Laura reached out and grabbed her hand.  
“Thank you.”  
Danny sheepishly smiled, and left.

 

Laura stood blankly staring in front of her wardrobe.   
“What do I wear? There's no proper attire for stalking your roommate in the middle of the night.”   
She let out an aggravated sigh before settling on a black hooded sweatshirt and black yoga pants. Her hand hovered over the can of bear spray. She shrugged and slipped in into her pocket. She was slipping on a pair of beat-up sneakers, when LaFontaine's voice echoed over the walkie-talkie.  
“Lady Falcon? Lady Falcon do you read me? Over.”  
Laura picked up the device and held down the speak button.  
“Loud and clear, Dr. AwesomeGenius. Over.”  
“Ugh, I still think these stupid things are unnecessary. And these code names are downright silly.” Perry said.  
“You didn't pick your own code name, so we had to pick one for you Stuffed Shirt. And you have to say 'over' at the end of each broadcast. Over.” said LaFontaine.  
“You both will be the death of me!” Perry snapped, irritated, “...Over.”  
At that moment, Carmilla strode through the door with her usual air of effortless apathy. She dropped her bag, stopped to glance at Laura and raised an eyebrow.  
“What's with the get-up?”  
“Uhh...” Laura struggled to come up with an excuse, “Party theme! Yeah, its a black-out theme. They turn off all the lights so you can't even tell who's who!”  
Carmilla rolled her eyes and began applying a coat of ruby lipstick to her lips. Laura suddenly found it impossible not to stare.  
“Well that sounds positively lame. I'm off to go study with that Cindy chick from your anthro class. With any luck, we won't be studying for very long.”  
Without another word, she strode off.  
Laura waited ten seconds and whispered into her walkie-talkie, “OK guys, the bat has left the cave. I repeat the bat has left the cave. I will follow on foot and tell you where she's headed. Be vigilant and happy hunting my friends.”  
Laura gathered her things and stopped to gently touch the silver bracelet dangling from her wrist. She couldn't stop her eyes from lingering on Carmilla's bed, where, she knew the bracelet Carmilla had given her was currently residing. She suddenly couldn't help but feel conflicted. But why? Conflicted between her attraction to her gorgeous, yet tentative English TA, or her possibly (yet equally gorgeous) undead roommate? She laughed at the absurdity of her situation. She slipped out the door, committed to the task at hand.  
She tracked Carmilla across the D-Quad, towards the library. Was she really headed to go meet up with yet another one of her “study buddies”? She was determined to find out.  
“Stuffed Shirt, she's headed towards you.” Laura whispered. Perry had taken the second floor of the library as a look-out spot, where a large window gave a clear view of D-Quad.  
“I have visual....Lady Falcon. She's headed straight for the library. Over.”  
“Thanks Stuffed Shirt. I'm right behind. Over.”  
She carefully followed Carmilla into the library, weaving in and out of the stacks to hide her position. Carmilla stopped by the study area and glanced at her phone.  
“I think she's actually waiting for this...Cindy to show. I can't believe it. Besides, have you guys seen her? I'm not sure why Carmilla's singled her out, she's got this weird kind of over-bite thing going on...”  
“Lady Falcon,” she could hear LaFontaine's whisper over the walkie-talkies, “Focus.”  
“Right. Over.”  
When Laura turned her head again, Carmilla was on the move again. She headed deeper and deeper into the stacks until she reached a small staircase leading down towards the basement.  
“Guys, guys. She's going into the basement. Over.”  
“The basement? That's where all the Paranormal and Occult Sciences books are kept. You don't think she...” Perry trailed off.  
“I don't know what she's doing but I'm going to find out. Over.”  
“This is Grey Wolf and I would like to remind you for the eight-hundredth time that if anything happens, I can easily sprint there in less than thirty seconds. Over.” Danny said.  
“Well, with those Amazonian legs of yours...” said LaFontaine.   
By this time, Carmilla had ventured into the poorly-lit basement and picked up a book. Swirls of dust could be seen in the single overhanging light in the damp room.   
“Its freezing down here I feel like I'm in a tomb. Over.” said Laura.  
“What's going on? Over.” asked Danny.  
In the darkness, Laura could barely make out Carmilla's lean figure. Laura's blood ran cold when she could see Carmilla's lips begin to move.  
“She's...saying something. Is she...chanting?” said Laura.  
Various voices came over the walkie-talkie, impossible to discern who was who. In the stillness of the basement, Laura could definitively hear a low mumbled sing-song speech. Laura's stomach dropped, and when she could hear Danny over the walkie-talkie telling her to get out of there, that's precisely what she did.  
Laura sat on a bench just outside the library, catching her breath. Just what on earth was her roommate up to?  
“Laura. Laura, I don't know how this is humanly possible...but I've got a visual on the target. She's crossing B-Quad, towards the science labs. Over.” said LaFontaine.  
Laura briefly wondered how it was possible Carmilla could cover so much ground so quickly, but took off towards the science labs, taking a shortcut through a small stretch of trees.   
LaFontaine was currently hiding out in a lab she was using for research purposes but now served doubly as an outpost.  
“Yeah Lady Falcon, she's definitely here. I can hear footsteps...no one would ever come here so late at night. I'm not sure what she's doing here though. Come in around the back, I unlocked it for you. You'll arouse less suspicion that way. Over.” said LaFontaine.  
Doing as she said, Laura ducked into the back door of the science labs and followed LaFontaine's directions until she reached a corner she could peer around.  
“She's right across the hall from me Lady Falcon. She just broke into Dr. Stevenson's office. What the hell? The chick's got some nerve. Over.”  
Peeking around the corner, Laura could in fact see an open door.   
“Can you see Dr. AwesomeGenius? I can't see all that much from my position. Over.” said Laura.  
“Yeah...ugh. Dr. Stevenson has a pet ball python named Monty. Wouldn't be my first choice of pet but hey, whatever floats your boat. She just nabbed a mouse out of Monty's cage...and she's eying it pretty intensely. Over.”  
“Argh! Does she break into the science labs at night to snack on mice? That's disgusting!” said Laura.  
“Wait...nope. She just scratched its head and put it back. Wait. Wait, she's pulling something out of her bag...”  
For ten seconds, all four of them collectively held their breaths.  
“...And its a paper. She just left it on his desk and walked out. Over.”  
When Carmilla had turned a corner, Laura rushed into the office and glanced at the paper on the desk.   
“Oh for pete's sake. Its just an old lab report. Carmilla must have missed handing it in because of her delightful sleeping schedule and just turned it in late. Over.”  
“Looks like we're coming up empty so far Lady Falcon. Over.” said LaFontaine.  
“C'mon guys, don't give up hope yet. I'm sure we're about to make a breakthrough, just hang in there. Over.”  
“Well if we don't have a breakthrough in the next hour, I need to head home. I've got four exams next week and I was hoping I might get some decent shut-eye this week. ...Over.” said Perry.  
More determined than ever, Laura headed out of the science labs and followed Carmilla towards the Great Lawn, the main stretch of campus home to Silas Hall, mostly high-level administrative offices, and the Silas Belltower, donated in 18-something by Count-Somebody in honor of his grandfather Count-Old Somebody. Laura hung back behind a tree, fearing she would be easily spotted on the open Great Lawn. She watched Carmilla's form get smaller as she walked farther away.   
“I think...she's going towards the Belltower. Over.” said Laura.  
“To do what exactly? Live out her wildest hunch-back fantasies? Over.” asked Perry.  
“...Full disclosure here, Lady Falcon. I do happen to know for a fact that the Belltower is home to several bats. Have you ever done research with guano? I don't really recommend it. Over.” said LaFontaine.  
Laura's skin began to crawl.  
“Bats? What do you mean....bats? Oh no. No no no. Is this where she meets with the other members of the undead? All the vampires meet here at night as bats and mingle? Oh god no no...”  
“Laura, you don't have to do this. This had gotten dangerous enough.” Danny said.  
“No,” said Laura, “I'm not running away because I'm scared. I need to get to the bottom of this, once and for all. I promise you will know if I need help. Get ready guys...here I go. Over.”  
Despite several more protests from Danny and one from Perry and LaFontaine, she ignored them and stared up at the massive gothic structure in front of her. Stone gargoyles guarded each corner and the steep roof featured a cross at the top. An elegant clockface with sleek gold hands pointed to nearly midnight.  
Bear spray in one hand, walkie-talkie in the other, Laura began the ascent up the old stone staircase. When she had reached the top, a low-flying bat spooked her and she let out a shriek, spraying the bat with all she had in her.   
Carmilla turned around, laughing.   
Laura froze in fear.  
Carmilla turned and sat on the belltower's ledge, patting the stone next to here.  
“Come here. I promise I won't bite.” she said.  
Perry, Danny, and LaFontaine were all simultaneously shouting over the walkie-talkie.   
“Its OK guys. Over.”  
Danny made several more pleas, but Laura ignored them and sat next to her roommate.  
“We're not very subtle...are we?” asked Laura.  
“Not even a little. I heard you back in the library so I figured I'd just have a little bit of fun.”  
“So wait...did you lure me here then?”  
“Maybe,” Carmilla said, dark eyes twinkling, “You said you wanted to watch the stars with me, so here we are.”  
Laura looked up and noticed the brightly glimmering stars overhead.   
“Well...maybe I'm glad you did.” Laura said, her cheeks flushing.  
Carmilla smirked.  
“You know, the Chinese have a myth, about the Herdsman and the Weaver Girl. The Herdsman is the star Aquila....over there, and the Weaver Girl is the star Vega over....there. They fell in love, of course, but the gods didn't want their love to interfere with their work. So they separated them on either side of the River of Heaven, or as we would call it, the Milky Way. But, on one day each year, a flock of magpies made a bridge across the Milky Way so they could be reunited and be together. ...I think its a romantic story. What do you think?” Carmilla asked.  
“I think that you are most definitely a Philosophy major.” said Laura.  
Carmilla smiled and stared intently at Laura, waiting for another answer. Static came in over the walkie-talkies. Danny, Perry and LaFontaine were demanding status updates.  
“I think those dweebish losers are asking for you to come back.” Carmilla sighed.   
“I guess.” Laura mumbled. Part of her, somewhere, secretly didn't want to go. She felt perfectly safe...even happy. Laura slowly rose to go, but then stopped.  
“I think the story is sad,” she said. Carmilla waited for her to continue, “I know how they feel. I've been kept apart from someone I loved, and there was nothing romantic about it.”  
Carmilla looked taken aback, even saddened. “Guess I'm not the only one with a mysterious tragic past, hmm?”  
“Besides,” Laura continued, “You shouldn't live to be with someone for only one day a year. You should be with them every day, sharing in life pains and joys. One day isn't enough for me. I want every day.”  
Carmilla smiled, perhaps the first genuine smile she'd ever seen from her bitter and sarcastic roommate.  
“We're still on for that Zeta party, right?” she asked.  
Laura's stomach twisted in her gut, her heart sank like a stone. Suddenly the thought of holding Carmilla against her will seemed cruel, unimaginable. Still, she knew it had to be done. No matter how loudly her heart was crying for her not to.  
“Yeah, totally. Until then.”


End file.
